Another inmate of the farmhouse should have a paragraph all to herself, for
"the grandmother" cannot be described in one brief line. Although she had
long since passed the allotted span of life, yet age had not dimmed the
lustre of her keen grey eyes nor dulled her faculties; and though she could
no longer take an active part in the management of the household, yet from
her corner in the pleasant room a potent spell reached out and overshadowed
the members of the household. No crowned monarch on his throne ever ruled
over such deferential and loyal subjects as those that here yielded to her
benign sway. Not that she required it of them--it was graciously accorded
her as to the patriarchs of old, and she seemed to belong to a holier age.
Her soft white hair fell over her brow, and was drawn back under a large
white frilled cap that surrounded her head like a halo, and the placid
countenance that beamed beneath it inspired a feeling of reverence. She was
called by all the household "the grandmother," and was dearly loved by them
all; but the filial love of her son was far above that usually accorded to
aged mothers, and it was easy to see how it warmed her heart.
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